Miter guide for power saws



June 26, 1951 w. HESS ETAL MITER GUIDE FOR POWER SAWS 2 Slieets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. .2; 1950 ATTORNEYS June 26, 1951 w. HESS ETAL MITER GUIDE FOR POWER SAWS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 2, 1950 INVENTOR IIIIIHHIII unx i F llllllllLu q a a a M 2 0 z 2 l r 0 A I4 2 w. Q a 7 w a u 4% 1 w m a ATTORNEYS Patented June 26, 1951 r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MITER GUIDE FOR POWER SAWS William Hess and Homer E. Watkins, Hanford, Calif.

Application October 2, 1950, Serial No. 187,968

Another important object is to provide a miter box construction of the type stated wherein a saw-receiving slideway, that is a part of a rotatable carriage of the miter box, is mounted for vertical tilting movement to facilitate the sawing of pieces of wood stock which may vary in thickness, one end of the slideway being elevatable by reason of the tiltable mounting so as to extend over thicker pieces.

Another important object is to provide a supporting table for a miter box of the type stated,

adapted to hold the miter box in selected positions of sliding adjustment, said table being adapted to support pieces of wood stock in prescribed position to be readily cut by a saw mounted upon the slideway of the miter box.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an improved miter box formed in accordance with the present invention, and of a work table on which said miter box is mounted.

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the miter box and the work table.

Fig. 3 is a section through themiter box taken on line 33 of Fig. 2, the dotted lines indicating a tilted position of the slideway.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, the dotted lines designating associated portions of the work table.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-4: of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the improved miter box includes a base plate I rigid or otherwise integral with the annular guide 2.over- 2 Claims. (Cl. 1436) lyin the periphery of a large center opening formed in the base plate. The guide 2 is provided with a circumferential series of markings designating degrees of cuts tobe made in a piece of Work W to be sawed through a portable electric power saw S supported upon the miter box.

Rotatably mounted upon the base is the rotatable saw-supporting carriage, that includes the annular bottom plate 3 supported for rotation upon the guide 2, the bottom plate 3 having one or more index markings, whereby the carriage may be rotatably adjusted within the guide 2 so as to cause the index marking of the bottom plate 3 to register with a selected degree marking of the guide, whereupon a cut made in a piece of work W will be at the'angle designated by said degree marking.

Upon rotatable adjustment of the bottom plate 3 within the guide 2, said bottom plate is adapted to be rigidly clamped to the stationary base of the miter box constituted by the base plate I and the guide 2, and. to this end we provide a clamp means including the clamping screws and associated wing nuts 4, said screws extending upwardly through suitable openings formed in the bottom plate 3, and being anchored at their lower ends in opposite ends of a cross bar 5 that extends diametrically of the large center opening of the base plate I ,the ends of said cross bar underlying the guide 2. It will thus be seen that upon rotatable adjustment of the bottom plate, 3 within the annular guide, it is necessary only to tighten the wing nuts, whereupon the cross bar 5 and the bottom plate 3 are rigidly clamped to the annular guide 2.

Mounted at diametrically opposite locations upon the bottom plate 3, and made rigid with the bottom plate in any suitable manner, are the upstanding supports -6 having straight parallel top surfaces formed with the parallel grooves 1 receiving depending tongues 8. At one end, the tongues 8 are pivoted in the grooves by means of pivot pins 9, the tongues 8 having arcuate slots Ill formed in their other end portions through which a: a? (Fig. transverse slots l4 through which extend bolt and wing nut connections [5, connecting to the supports 13 the elongated parallel guide rails l6 constituting a slideway for the saw.

As will be seen, the provision of the transverse slots [4 permits the guide rails it to be adjusted laterally toward and away from each other, so as to accommodate different widths of saws. When so adjusted, the connections 15 permit clampingof' the guide rails in their selected positions of laterally spreadable adjustment.

At opposite ends of the guide rails, screws or equivalent fasteners i9 serve tomsecure :tortheguide rails the guide bars ll, which may be associated with inner guide bars l8' secured-tdxthe rails l6 by fastening means 20.

At one end, a cross bar :2i',extendsbetween: the rails i6, and as seen from Fig. 6, at opposite ends this may be formed with a longitudinalseries of adjustment openings 221 through one of which extends fastening meansyl-Q. Thus, on adjustmentof-theslicleway as to width, the fastening meansJS can be extended through-ase- -'lected opening 22, and-the associated wing nut tightened'for the purpose of securing the connection.

Mounted upon the medial portion .of theicross bar ZI is a supporting bracket 23., which-is secured to the cross bar by means of a bolt and wing nut-fl.

Ana'dj ustablestop; plate is connected to the cross bar and-to the plate or bracket 23, thestop 25having-the upwardly extended tongueZG with which-a-sa-w'S-will engage when the saw is retracted from thepiece of work W.

"Formed in a the stop -25 is the longitudinal slot 21, through which extends the bolt and wing nut connection 28. Thus, the'bolt 28- constitutes means, in cooperation with the-bolt 24, whereby movement of member 25 inopposite directions is limited, and in any=selectedpositionsto which the stop is'moved, the wing nuts are turned home for theipurpose of clampingthe stop plate rigidly inJsaidpOsitiQn.

An' inclined stop 29.is also mounted'upon the cross barZl, the cross bar having atransversely disposed'slot 38, receiving a connecting screw .extending downwardly from said' inclined stop 29. .The stop2 9 serves the purpose of causing the rear end of the saw to be inclined upwardly when the saw is retracted, to clear the lower portion .01 the stopplate 25, and the transverse. adjustment of the inclined stop .is to accommodate different types of saws.

A miter box formed as; described aboveis adapted to be mounted upon aworktableincluding the flat-top portion 3! which may be formed fromplywood or the like, this being'supported upon horses 32 and beingpreferably; formedwith an opening 33 through which sawdust-can gravitate. Upon the portion 3| istmounted azpairiof spaced parallelguide rrails 34 to whichraredetachablyconnected. graduated :retaining :fianges 3.5 connectedto said guide rails gbyrmeans ,ofibolt and wing nut connections 36.

A work support provided; upon: theaworkitable includes the. back rest 31; at opposite ,,ends;;of which are provided the raisedsupportsfid. On each support V38ris mounted a;horiz0ntally. swingable work-engaging arm 39, eacharm39zbeing provided withalongitudinal series ofiopen-ings 40 through any of which can extend: the-pivot bolt 41. Inzthis way, the sharpenedrinner: end i42 of each arm 39 can: be spaced adjustably-from-a -I ithe-clamping-arms 39 are swung to a suitable position toengage said'piece 43 against movement from its proper location. Thereafter, the

rotatable carriage of the miter box is swung to thesdesired. angle and clamped in position, and

the base plate I of the miter box is slidably adjustedforwardly or rearwardly depending upon thewidth of the particular piece of work to be cut.v -,The;,graduations on the guide rails permit the adjustment of the bottom or base plate =l tobe determined in accordance with the width of the pieces to be cut.

Themserxnow simply places a piece of work Wuponlthe-support 43, and the saw S isposi- :tioned upon the: slideway. It'is simply necessary,

at this time, toatraverse the wood with the-saw blade-athe saw sliding. forwardly and rearwardly ins-the slideway defined by the rails l6, l1, l8.

-Each time thesaw is retracted, it iseng-age'd thickness, the slideway for the saw tilts-upwardly uponithepivotal connectionsB, so that there is no necessity.-of mounting the work table 3l-in-a higher location.

"It :will be -seen that the work-can be cut with great rapidityand at the exact angle desired, and a single saw operator=can cut,in a short time, a considerable quantity of rafters, studding,

, joists, or i the like;

Whatis claimed 1 is:

l. A'miter boxconstruction including-a stationarybase plate,- an-annular guide rigid with said base plate and provided with "a circumferential-series of degree markings, a rotatable car- :riage mounted upon said annular guide, said rotatable carriage having cooperating markings for-'adjustment-of the carriage rotatably upon" the guideto'selected positions denoting angles 'at which work is to beout, said rotatable carriage including a'pair'of upstanding spaced apartsupportsya guide railmounted upon "each support for I up and down tilting movement, means for adjusting *said guide railstoward and away from each otherysaid guide'rails-constituting a slideway for-a portable electric power saw, and means at one end of the islideway'f or limiting movement of a powerrsaw" in one direction.

"2'. -A miter-box-construction including a base plate having a center opening, an annular guide rigid with said base plate and extending peripherally-of said "opening, saidguide having a circumferential series of-degree markings, "a rotatablecarriage including -a-circular bottom plate having rotating movement within said annular guide; a cross barconnected'to said bottom'piate of the carriage and underlying said guide, means forrigidly-clamping said cross bar and bottom plate-tosaid-guide in selected positions to which the carriage is rotatably adjusted, upstanding supports: upon said-bottom plate, said supports each having grooves formed in their top surfaces, a saw slideway comprising a-pa'ir of spaced parallel guide rails, said guide rails including depending tongues received I in said grooves and pivotally connected to the "supports at oneend, theotherwend, of'the tongues tiltingupwardly and downwardly :within the grooves for 1 up and 5 down tilting of said guide rails, and means adjustably connecting said guide rails for adjustment toward and away from each other to accommodate saws of different widths.

WILLIAM HESS. HOMER E. WATKINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Drinkaus Nov. 26, 1901 Simonsen Mar. 29, 1921 Crouse July 21, 1925 Horton July 4, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Apr. 20, 1885 

